World Bank grants USD 53 billion to developing countries

Despite a difficult global economic environment, the commitments for the International Development Association (IDA), the World Bank's fund for the poor, were at an all-time high of USD16.3 billion, a news agency cited the Washington-based global development institution as saying.

Meanwhile, the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the World Bank Group institution which focuses exclusively on the private sector, delivered a record amount of USD18.3 billion in financing to businesses in developing countries. The Bank's political risk insurance arm, the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), issued USD 2.8 billion in guarantees, another record high.

In addition, the commitments for the International Bank of Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), the Bank's fund for the middle-income countries, reached $15.2 billion.

"We are well positioned to address the economic challenges developing countries face during these still uncertain times," said World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim.

"At the Spring Meetings, our shareholders endorsed two new goals -- ending extreme poverty by 2030 and boosting shared prosperity by fostering income growth for the bottom 40 percent of the population in every developing country. We are realigning all of the Bank's efforts to achieve these goals," he added.